Relay contact block with interchangeable spring biased contact structure



R. L. M GARY 3,319,036 RELAY CONTACT BLOCK WITH INTERCHANGEABLE SPRINGMay 9, 1967 BIASED CONTACT STRUCTURE Original Filed March 23; 1965 4-Sheets-Sheet 1 y 7 R. 1.. M GARY 3,319,036

RELAY CONTACT BLOCK WITH INTERCHANGEABLE SPRING BIASED CONTACT STRUCTUREOriginal Filed March 23, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 7 .5 .mulJo M fl Q W W R.L. M GARY v 3,319,036

WITH INTERCHANGEABLE SPRING BTASED CONTACT STRUCTURE 4 Sheets-Sheet 5May 9, 1967 RELAY CONTACT BLOCK Original Filed March 2:5, 1965 y 9, 1967R. L. M GARY 3,319,036

RELAY CONTACT BLOCK WITH INTERCHANGEABLE SPRING BIASED CONTACT STRUCTURE-Original Filed March 23; 1965 4 Shawna-Sheet 4 United States PatentOfiice 3,319,036 Patented May 9, 1967 Original application Mar. 23,1965, Ser. No. 441,964, now

Patent No. 3,290,628, dated Dec. 6, 1966. Divided and this applicationAug. 30, 1966, Ser. No. 576,084 Claims. (Cl. 200-168) This applicationis a division of my copending application Ser. No. 441,964, filed Mar.23, 1965, which has issued as Patent No. 3,290,628, Dec. 6, 1966,Contactor With Novel Contact Housing.

The invention relates to electric switches having contacts which may benormally open or normally closed and has reference in particular to anindustrial type relay consisting of a solenoid type actuator and one ormore contact blocks operatively assembled on the solenoid actuator, theactuator thus providing the base for the combination.

The relay of the present invention has been especially designed forindustrial use since it is possible to mount on a single actuator aplurality of contact blocks for various voltages such as a four polethree hundred volt block, or a three pole six hundred volt block. Sinceone or more contact blocks can be assembled on a single base theoperator in the field can produce a relay for either a three hundredvolt application or a six hundred volt application, or a combination ofthe two.

An additional object of the invention resides in the provision of arelay combination as described wherein the blocks can be easilyassembled for various combinations of normally open or normally closedcontacts and wherein the contacts of each block are visible by means ofa clear plastic cover which also serves as a dust shield.

Another object of the present invention is to provide contact blocks'which can be operatively connected to each other by means of a specialdovetail formation on the movable contact carrier of each block andwherein adjacent blocks can be fixedly secured together by means ofspecial securing screws held captive in the contact blocks,respectively.

Another object is to provide contact blocks for the purposes describedwherein the carrier for the movable contacts is rel-easably retained inplace within its contact block by a releasable slide, the slide, inturn, being retained in its passageway by the plastic cover for theblock.

With these and various other objects in view the invention may consistof certain novel features of construction and operation as will be morefully described and particularly pointed out in the specification,drawings and claims appended thereto.

In the drawings which illustrate an embodiment of the device and whereinlike reference characters are used to designate like parts- FIGURE 1 isa front elevational view of an industrial type relay coming within theinvention and which includes a three pole six hundred volt contact blockand a four pole three hundred volt contact block;

FIGURE 2 is a view taken substantially on line 2-2 of FIGURE 1 andshowing in top plan the solenoid type actuator which provides the basefor the relay combination;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 3-3 ofFIGURE 2, the said view being on a somewhat larger scale than FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 4-4 ofFIGURE 2, the scale being the same as FIG- URE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a top plan view of the three pole six hundred volt contactblock on a scale twice that as shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE '6 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially along line6-6 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially along line7-7 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 8 is a top plan view of the four pole three hundred volt contactblock on a scale twice that as shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 9 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially alOng line9-9 of FIGURE 8;

FIGURE 10 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially along line10-10 of FIGURE 8;

FIGURE 11 is an exploded view showing the various parts, which whenoperatively assembled, comprise a contact block;

FIGURE 12 is a view in plan of a releasable base element which isretained by each of the contact blocks; and

FIGURE 13 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the manner of fixedlysecuring adjacent contact blocks by means of captive screws retained bythe blocks, respectively.

The relay selected for illustrating the invention includes a solenoidactuator designated in its entirety by numeral 10, FIGURE 1, and whichprovides a base member for the industrial type relay. A first contactblock 12 having three poles for three circuits is shown as mounted onthe base member. A second contact block 14 having four.

poles for four circuits is shown as mounted on the contact block 12.Referring again to the solenoid-type base actuator it will be observedfrom FIGURES 2, 3 and 4 that the housing 15 for the same issubstantially rectangular in both top plan and side elevation. Thehousing 15 is formed of plastic, hard rubber and other suitable materialhaving insulating qualities. The bottom wall 16 is recessed at 17longitudinally of the member and both side walls 18 and 20 have integraltherewith an exterior flange 21 which is employed for securing andanchoring the base member to a support. The walls 18 and 20 have varyingthickness as best shown in FIGURE 2, the area of minimum thicknessforming an inside cavity 22 for each wall. The end walls 23 and 24 areintegral with the side walls and each end wall on its inside surface isgrooved vertically at 25. The housing 15 is closed on its top side by acover 26, also of plastic, hard rubber or the like, and which is securedto the housing by the screws 27, FIG- URES l and 4. The cover isapertured centrally for receiving the armature to be presently describedand the end walls of the cover are grooved vertically at 28 with thegrooves communicating with the central aperture.

FIGURE 4 shows the housing 15 as retaining a field magnet 30 consistingof soft iron laminations and having three upstanding leg portionsidentified by numerals 31, 32 and 33. The outer leg portions 31 and 33are each provided with a shading coil 34 of copper and an energizingcoil 35 is disposed in surrounding relation with the center leg 32. Thecoil is encased in a plastic shell and the solenoid thus formed issurrounded on all sides by the iron of the field magnet. The terminals36 for the energizing coil 35 are located exteriorly of the housing forconvenient access by the operator.

The armature 38 for the base actuator 15 is located within the centralaperture of the cover as shown in FIG- URE 2, and said armature includesa metal part 40 consisting of metal laminations similar to the fieldmagnet and a plastic cover part 41 which retains the metal part, sincethe latter is pivoted to the plastic cover by the pin 42. The topexposed surface of the plastic cover part 41 is formed into a projectionof dovetail shape 43 as shown in FIGURE 3, and which makes it possiblefor a contact block to be operatively connected to the armature of thebase actuator all in a manner to be presently described. The armature 38is guided in the its reciprocating movements by vertical projectionswhich ride in the grooves 28. At least two coil springs 44 are providedfor yieldingly biasing the armature 38 in an upward direction so thatupon energization of the coil 35 the metal part 40 and thus the armature38 is pulled down against thecoil springs to compress them.

The details of the contact block 12 are shown in FIG- URES 5, 6 and 7.The plastic housing for the block 12 is substantially rectangular in topplan, including a bottom wall 45, side walls 46 and 47, and end walls 48and 49. The side walls 46 and 47 are formed with outwardly extendingribs 50 which provide compartments for the stationary contacts 51associated with wall 46 and for the stationary contacts 52 associatedwith wall 47. Each contact is fixedly secured to the block by a'rivet 53and the inwardly extending ends of the contacts 51 and 52, respectively,are provided with silver contacts 54 and 55 on both top and bottomsurfaces. Each of the stationary contacts is also provided with aterminal screw such as 56 for fastening a conductor or a wire to thesaid stationary terminals.

The contact block 12 retains a carrier 57 for the movable bridgingcontacts 58, the said contacts 58 carrying at their respective ends thesilver contacts 59. The contacts 59 on the left, FIGURE 7, are adaptedto coact with the contacts 54 of the stationary terminal 51 and thesilver contacts 59 on the right are adapted to coact with the contacts55 of the stationary terminal 52. The carrier 57 is similar in mostrespects to the carrier shown in FIGURE 11. Three movable bridgingcontacts 58 are carried by the carrier 57 and for this purpose threeopenings are formed in the carrier, each opening having an upper half 6%and a lower half 61. When the contacts are normally open the movablecontacts 58 are located against the bottom ledge of the upper opening 60as best shown in FIGURE 6. However, when the contacts are normallyclosed, the movable contacts 58 are located against the top edge of thelower opening 61. However, with respect to carrier 57 all of the movablecontacts are shown in a position for normally open operation. Coilsprings are associated with the movable contacts for maintaining thesaid contacts in either their normally open or normally closedpositions. For FIGURES 5, 6 and 7 the coil springs 62 are located abovethe movable contacts 58 and the said springs thus yieldingly bias themovable contacts in a downward direction to hold them against the bottomledge, respectively, of the upper openings 60.

The carrier 57 is retained by the contact block in a manner permittingreciprocating movements and it will be observed that the carrier isguided by end projections which ride in the grooves 63 and 64. Thegroove 63 is formed in end wall 48, and groove 64 is formed in thereleasable slide 65. The slide is in turn provided with a vertical endprojection which rides in a groove 66 in side wall 49. By means of a topledge portion integral with the slide, the same can be lifted from orinserted in the side wall 49. When the slide 65 is lifted and removed,then the carrier 57 can be moved laterally in a' direction to the rightand with the carrier thus released it can be lifted from the contactblock. It is necessary for the carrier 57 to be first moved laterally tothe right in order to locate the movable contacts 58 out of alignmentwith the stationary contacts. This is particularly the case when one ormore of the movable contacts are located for normally closed operation.When re-inserting the movable carrier a reverse of the above operationsis followed.

It will be understood that the carrier 57 is held in its elevatedposition, in which position the movable contacts are normally open. Thisholding of the carrier in its elevated position is effected by thearmature 38 of the base actuator 10. Thus when the field magnet 30 ismagnetized to pull down the armature the carrier 57 is reciprocateddownwardly and the normally open contacts 54,

59 and 55, 59 are closed to close the electrical circuits controlled bythis particular contact block. For operatively connecting the armaturewith the carrier the said carrier is provided with a recess 67 in itsbottom surface and which is of dovetail shape for receiving theprojection 43 of the armature. A projection 68 also of dovetail shape isformed on the top surface of the carrier for operatively connecting thesame to the carrier of the contact block 14 or to the carrier of anothercontact block similar to 12. As previously explained the contact block12 has three poles and is designed for three circuits of approximatelysix hundred volts, whereas the contact block 14 has four poles and isdesigned for handling four circuits of approximately three hundred voltseach.

Referring to FIGURES 8, 9 and 10, the contact block 14 essentiallyconsists of a housing substantially rectangular in top plan and whichincludes a bottom wall 75, side walls 76 and 77, and end walls '78 and79. The side walls 76 and 77 are formed with three outwardly extendingribs 80 which provide compartments for the stationary contacts orterminals 81 for wall 76 and the stationary contacts or terminals 82 forwall 77. Each stationary contact is fixedly secured to the block by arivet 83 and the inwardly extending end of each stationary contact isprovided with silver contacts on both top and bottom surfaces. Thesilver contacts 84 are located on the end of the stationary terminals 81and the silver contacts 85 are located on the end of stationaryterminals 82. Also, each stationary terminal is provided with a screwsuch as 86 for fastening a conductor or wire to the said stationaryterminal.

The contact block 14 retains a carrier 87 for the movable bridgingcontacts 88 and which at their terminal ends carry the silver contacts89. The contacts 89 on the left, FIGURE 10, are adapted to coact withcontacts 84 of the stationary terminals 81 and the silver contacts 89 onthe right are adapted to coact with the contacts 85 on the stationaryterminals 82. Four movable bridging contacts 88 are carried by thecarrier 87 and for the purpose four openings are formed in the carrier,each opening having an upper half 90 and a lower half 91. When thecontacts are normally open the movable contacts 88 are located againstthe bottom ledge of the upper openings 90 as shown in FIGURES 9 and 11.However, when the contacts are normally closed, the movable contacts 88are located against the top ledge of the lower openings 91. FIGURES 9and 11 show the two inner bridging contacts as located for normally openoperation whereas the two end bridging contacts are located for normallyclosed operation. Coil springs are associated with the movable contactsin both their normally open and normally closed positions. In FIGURES 8to 11, inclusive, the coil springs 92 are located above the twocentrally located movable contacts and thus said springs yieldingly biasthe contacts in a downward direction to hold them against the bottomledge of the upper openings 90. For the two end movable contacts thecoil springs 99 are located below the said contacts within the loweropenings 91 and these springs yieldingly bias the contacts in an upwarddirection to hold them against the top ledge of the bottom openings 91.

The carrier 87 is retained by the contact block 14 in a mannerpermitting reciprocating movement, for which purpose the carrier isguided by end projections which ride in grooves 93 and 94. The groove 93is formed in end wall 78 and the groove 94 is formed in the releasableslide 95 as clearly shown in FIGURES 8 and 9. The slide in turn isprovided with a vertical end projection which rides in a groove 96 inside wall 79 and by means of a top ledge portion integral with the slidethe same can be lifted from or inserted in the side wall 79 all in amanner identical to that as described inconnection with the slide 57 forcontact block 12.

The carrier 87 is provided with a recess 97 of dovetail shape forreceiving a projection of similar shape so as to operatively connect thecarrier with the armature of a base actuator or with the carrier ofanother contact block. Also, for this purpose, the top surface of thecarrier is provided with a dovetail projection 98.

For normally open operation the downward movement of the carrier islimited by the movable contacts which engage the stationary contactsfollowed by limited compression of the coil springs such as 62 and 92.For nor mally closed operation the up movement of the carrier is alsolimited by the engagement of the movable contacts with the stationarycontacts and which is followed by compression of the coil springs 99, toa limited extent. However, downward movement of the carrier isadditionally limited by a releasable base member 100 shown in top planin FIGURE 12. The base element is carried by each carrier with thefingers 101 of the element extending through the lower openings 61 or91, the fingers having supporting contact on the bottom ledge of theseopenings. The body portion of the base element will thus extend alongone side of the carrier and the fingers will be disposed on the oppositeside, such structure being clearly apparent from FIGURES 7 and 10. Sincethe base element is supported on its carrier, the element in turnprovides a support for the coil springs 99 which are positioned by thebase element within the lower openings 61 and 91. For this positioningpurpose the base element has upward extending projections 102. FromFIGURES 7 and 10 it will be observed that the body portion of the baseelement 100 and the fingers 101 thereof overlie the bottom wall 45 forthe contact block 12, and the bottom wall 75 for the contact block 14.Thus when the carrier is actuated in a down direction the base elementwill engage the bottom wall on respective sides of the carrier and thecoil springs 99 will thus be compressed, and the normally closed movablecontacts will 'be withdrawn from their respective stationary contacts toopen the electrical circuit controlled thereby. It will be understood,of course, that this down movement of the carrier is sufficient to movethe normally open movable contacts into a closed position with theirrespective stationary contacts.

An additional limiting stop is provided for the carriers to limit theirmovement in an upward direction. The structure is the same for bothcarriers and consists of stop projections 104 which extend verticallyand outwardly on both sides of the carrier. Each contact block includesa cover of clear plastic which provides a window in addition to forminga dust cover. The cover is substantially the same for both contactblocks and is identified by numeral 105. Inside partition walls 106 andoutside partition walls 107 depend from the undersurface of the coverand each group of partition walls includes a number corresponding to thecompartments of the contact block. Thus the cover for the contact block12 has three partition walls 106 on both sides of the carrier and threepartition walls 107 which are located inwardly from each edge of thecover. The cover for the contact .block 14 has four of both groups ofpartition walls as clearly shown in FIGURE 11. The spaces between thepartition walls 106 form slots 108 which are wide enough to receive thestop projections 104. Since the slots extend to the top wall of thecover, this structure forms a stop limiting upward movement of thecarriers.

Each cover is releasably secured to its contact block by two cornerscrews and which are received in the threaded recesses 111, FIGURES 5and 8. Each contact block also carries a captive screw, FIGURE 13,identified by numeral 112 for the contact block 12 and 114 for thecontact block 14. Each screw is located in a vertical bore 115 extendingcompletely through its block, the bore providing a shoulder 116. Eachscrew includes a body portion 117, a lower threaded extension 118 and aninternally threaded head .120. The body portion 117 of the screw is heldcaptive within its block by the shoulder 116 and by the cover 105. Asshown in FIGURE 13 the lower exteriorly threaded extension 118 of screw114 is threaded in the head 120 of the screw 112. Captive screws such asshown in FIGURE 13 are located in each block at diagonal cornersopposite the securing screws 110, and the structure makes possible thesecuring or fixing of the base actuator and the contact blocks in astacked relation.

The invention is not to be limited to or by details of construction ofthe particular embodiment thereof illustrated by the drawings, asvarious other forms of the device will, of course, be apparent to thoseskilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention orthe scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a contact block of the character described, in combination, ahousing of insulating material including spaced side and end walls, aplurality of stationary contacts fixed to the side walls, respectively,and each extending inwardly in aligned spaced relation with a contactfrom the opposite side wall to form pairs of spaced contacts, a carrieralso of insulating material and located in the space between the pairsof stationary contacts, said carrier being mounted by the end walls ofthe housing in a manner permitting limited reciprocating movement, aplurality of bridging contacts carried by the carrier and adapted toengage the pairs of spaced contacts, respectively, to close theelectrical circuits controlled thereby, said carrier having a pluralityof openings therein corresponding in number to the number of bridgingcontacts and each opening including an upper half and a lower half, eachof said openings retaining a bridging contact, and a coil spring withineach opening for yieldingly holding the bridging contacts in position,said bridging contacts located in the upper half of the openings withthe coil spring located above the same for normally open operation, andsaid bridging contacts located in the lower half of the openings withthe coil spring located below the same for normally closed operation.

2. A contact block of the character as defined by claim 1, additionallyincluding a cover of clear plastic for the housing of the contact block,and at least one outwardly extending projection on the carrier and whichis disposed parallel to the direction of movement of the carrier,whereby the projection is adapted to contact the plastic cover to formstop means which will limit reciprocating movement of the carrier in adirection towards the cover.

3. A contact block of the character defined by claim 1, additionallyincluding a releasable base member consisting of a body portion and aplurality of arcuately dispoesed fingers spaced along the length of thebody portion, said base member having supporting relation on the carrierwith the body portion located on one side of the carrier and the fingersextending through the lower half openings and terminating on theopposite side of the carrier, and the said coil springs located in thelower half openings supported on and positioned by the said base member.

4. A contact block of the character defined by claim 1, additionallyincluding a slide forming part of one end wall of the housing, saidslide having inserting and lifting movement with respect to said endwall in a direction parallel to the carrier, whereby when the slide islifted and removed the carrier can also be removed from the housingprovided the carrier is first moved laterally to locate the bridgingcontacts out of alignment with the stationary contacts.

5. A contact block of the character defined by claim 1, additionallyincluding a slide forming part of one side Wall of the housing, saidslide having inserting and lifting movement With respect to said endwall in a direction parallel to the carrier, guiding projections on therespective ends of the carrier and which are received by the slide andthe opposite end wall for mounting the carrier for reciprocatingmovement, and said slide when lifted '8 and removed permitting removalof the carrier from the housing.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,164,709 1/1965Gentile 200-166 3,177,331 4/1965 KaWabata et a1. 200168 3,188,405 6/1965Scheib 200-166 3,231,706 1/1966 Waldorf 200-167 10 ROBERT K. SCHAEFER,Primary Examiner.

H. O. JONES, Assistant Examiner.

1. IN A CONTACT BLOCK OF THE CHARACTER DESCRIBED, IN COMBINATION, AHOUSING OF INSULATING MATERIAL INCLUDING SPACED SIDE AND END WALLS, APLURALITY OF STATIONARY CONTACTS FIXED TO THE SIDE WALLS, RESPECTIVELY,AND EACH EXTENDING INWARDLY IN ALIGNED SPACED RELATION WITH A CONTACTFROM THE OPPOSITE SIDE WALL TO FORM PAIRS OF SPACED CONTACTS, A CARRIERALSO OF INSULATING MATERIAL AND LOCATED IN THE SPACE BETWEEN THE PAIRSOF STATIONARY CONTACTS, SAID CARRIER BEING MOUNTED BY THE END WALLS OFTHE HOUSING IN A MANNER PERMITTING LIMITED RECIPROCATING MOVEMENT, APLURALITY OF BRIDGING CONTACTS CARRIED BY THE CARRIER AND ADAPTED TOENGAGE THE PAIRS OF SPACED CONTACTS, RESPECTIVELY, TO CLOSE THEELECTRICAL CIRCUITS CONTROLLED THEREBY, SAID CARRIER HAVING A PLURALITYOF OPENINGS THEREIN CORRESPONDING IN NUMBER TO THE NUMBER OF BRIDGINGCONTACTS AND EACH OPENING INCLUDING AN UPPER HALF AND A LOWER HALF, EACHOF SAID OPENINGS RETAINING A BRIDGING CONTACT, AND A COIL SPRING WITHINEACH OPENING FOR YIELDINGLY HOLDING THE BRIDGING CONTACTS IN POSITION,SAID BRIDGING CONTACTS LOCATED IN THE UPPER HALF OF THE OPENINGS WITHTHE COIL SPRING LOCATED ABOVE THE SAME FOR NORMALLY OPEN OPERATION, ANDSAID BRIDGING CONTACTS LOCATED IN THE LOWER HALF OF THE OPENINGS WITHTHE COIL SPRING LOCATED BELOW THE SAME FOR NORMALLY CLOSED OPERATION.